I've been wondering about what are the major US Open Water Swims. By major, I mean the largest or the ones that are the single swim that people aim for in their area, oldest, most established, etc. I have a partial list which I think is probably partially correct, but I was wondering what I was missing and what mistakes I had made. And I do know that looking at US swims is provincial and that there are swims in other parts of the world that are larger and older than many of ours.
In California, I would put the La Jolla Roughwater, the Hermosa to Manhattan Pier to Pier, the Santa Cruz Roughwater swims, the DAM Lake Berryessa Swims, the RCP Tiburon Mile and any of the Alcatraz swims as being swims that attract 400 or more competitors and are major swims by any definition.
In Oregon, I think the Elk Lake swims put on by COMA are the largest, most successful swims. In Washington, I think it is the Fat Salmon. In Florida, I think that there is a Tampa Bay 5 K swim in the spring that is the largest. In the midwest, I think the Big Shoulders swim is the premeire event, and in the colonial zone, I think the Chesapeake Bridge Swim is the largest and most prominent. In Hawaii, the Waikiki Roughwater Swim is the main event, I think, in terms of size, age, prestige, etc.
But I was wondering what other people thought. My ulterior motive is partially curiousity and partially a desire to know what the different major swims are so that maybe I can try to swim some of them.
Thanks and I will be curious to see what responses I get, if any.
I'll give a shout out for the Boston Light Swim. They claim to be the oldest open water swim in the USA, with the first swimming apparently back in 1908.
It has historically been a small race (around 10 swimmers), and a somewhat local event. This year, a couple of teammates of mine did the swim, and I piloted an escort boat for one of them. Trying to bring things to the 'next level', I setup a web site with real-time GPS tracking of the race from the boat. The web site updated every 60 seconds with our position along the race course, and I also setup a webcam on the boat that updated every 60 seconds.
www.swimindex.com/.../
Official race web site:
www.bostonlightswim.org/
2008 will be the 100th anniversary of the Boston Light Swim, so they are looking to ramp up the interest and participation for the swim. You should all come to Boston next summer! (It looks like it will be Sunday, August 1, 2004, 7:00am.)
Up here in the Northeast, I know the Manhattan group does a fabulous job with organizing a number of open water swims around New York City. They very much have their act in gear.
-Rick
I'll give a shout out for the Boston Light Swim. They claim to be the oldest open water swim in the USA, with the first swimming apparently back in 1908.
It has historically been a small race (around 10 swimmers), and a somewhat local event. This year, a couple of teammates of mine did the swim, and I piloted an escort boat for one of them. Trying to bring things to the 'next level', I setup a web site with real-time GPS tracking of the race from the boat. The web site updated every 60 seconds with our position along the race course, and I also setup a webcam on the boat that updated every 60 seconds.
www.swimindex.com/.../
Official race web site:
www.bostonlightswim.org/
2008 will be the 100th anniversary of the Boston Light Swim, so they are looking to ramp up the interest and participation for the swim. You should all come to Boston next summer! (It looks like it will be Sunday, August 1, 2004, 7:00am.)
Up here in the Northeast, I know the Manhattan group does a fabulous job with organizing a number of open water swims around New York City. They very much have their act in gear.
-Rick